Penn State Nittany Lions football: Franklin names second starting safety

Penn State Nittany Lions football can thank Lackawanna College for its two starting safeties this season.

Ji'Ayir Brown, affectionately known as "Tig" by his coaches and teammates, will start alongside fellow Falcon Jaquan Brisker when Penn State football takes on Wisconsin this Saturday, head coach James Franklin announced on Wednesday.

"Tig will be the other starter," Franklin said after Penn State's practice. "There will be other guys that rotate in at both safety spots, but right now it's Brisker and Tig at the two safety spots for us."

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Some of the other names Penn State fans could see within that safety rotation could be Jonathan Sutherland, Keaton Ellis, Jaylen Reed and Tyler Rudolph, among others, but Brown emerged from the pack to claim the starting job.

Brisker had high praise for his former teammate at Lackawanna, and current safety partner, when he met the media Wednesday morning via Zoom.

"I think what fans are going to like about Ji'Ayir Brown is that he's a football player," Brisker said. "There's some things that you can't take away from him and you can't coach. Once he sees something, he makes a play on it, and that's always good, especially when he has great instincts and he knows the game very well."

Brown said this spring that he expected to come in and earn one of the starting safety jobs last season after arriving from Lackawanna.

That didn't happen, as he played a rotational role behind Brisker and Lamont Wade, totaling 130 snaps on defense.

Now, he'll get his opportunity.

"He's just raw," Brisker said. "He's just a football player. This is what he does. He trusts his instincts and he's going to make plays."

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